%% LyX 2.3.4.2 created this file. For more info, see http://www.lyx.org/. %% Do not edit unless you really know what you are doing. \documentclass[english]{article} \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} \usepackage[latin9]{inputenc} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{babel} \begin{document} \title{Solving a Quartic Equation} \author{Amit Yaron} \maketitle \begin{abstract} Another one from YouTube, this time in Russian. But I don't understand the language, and I feel that the video is too slow. \end{abstract} \paragraph{So, now let us solve $(x+3)^{4}+(x+5)^{4}=2$} Everyone knows that $1+1=2$, one solution is really: \begin{align*} \begin{cases} (x+3)^{4} & =1\\ (x+5)^{4} & =1 \end{cases} & \Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow x & =-4 \end{align*} But let us use a substitution to solve it more elegantly; I like using the average of $3$ and $5$ to solve the equation, so let us substitute: $t=x+4$ and see terms cancel out, so a quartic equation will lool like a quadratic one: \[ (t-1)^{4}+(t+1)^{4}=2 \] Let us expand the 2 terms: \begin{align*} (t^{4}-4t^{3}+6t^{2}-4t+1)+(t^{4}+4t^{3}+6t^{2}+4t+1) & =2\Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow & 2t^{4}+12t^{2}+2=2\Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow & 2t^{4}+12t^{2}=0\Rightarrow\\ \Rightarrow & 2t^{2}(t^{2}+6)=0 \end{align*} So, one solution is: \[ t=0\Rightarrow x=t-4=-4 \] The other solutions are not real: \[ t^{2}=\pm6\Rightarrow t=\pm\sqrt{6}i\Rightarrow x=t-4=-4\pm\sqrt{6}i \] \end{document}